“I loved it…” – Ben Marshall on pulling sickies, Gary Megson and wanting to join Sheffield Wednesday permanently

Ben Marshall had a successful spell with Sheffield Wednesday, and admits that he wanted to join the club on a permanent basis when his loan had come to an end.
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Marshall, now 29, spent around five months with the Owls in 2011, playing 22 games and getting five goals and six assists in the first half of their promotion season back to the Championship before signing for Leicester City.

Now, in an eye-opening interview on the Undr The Cosh podcast, he has revealed a little bit more about his successful – though short – spell in South Yorkshire under then Wednesday manager, Gary Megson.

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He told the hosts, Jon 'the Beast' Parkin, Chris ' Browny' Brown and award-winning writer Chris Brown, “With Gary Megson, I couldn’t put a foot wrong… On a Sunday went out, and I was up until 8am on the Monday morning, and I’d set my alarm until quarter to eight, so it didn’t go off because it was obviously past it.

“I woke up at three in afternoon with missed calls so I thought I’d better drag it on. I phoned in sick on the Tuesday, we were off on the Wednesday and I came back in on Thursday and they said, ‘Megson wants to see you’.

“I got up, he asked me how I was feeling, and then asked if we should go 4-3-3 the next game. I said put me in the whole and he said, ‘Yeah, alright’. I could get away with anything.

“I was turning up on a Saturday and doing well… I knew I could get away with it, and I got away with it for quite a bit.

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“I was on loan from Stoke, and he didn’t want to push me away because he was after signing me in January.”

The attacker, who is currently with Stoneclough FC in the West Lancashire Division One, explained on the podcast that some fans thought he didn’t want to join the Owls – even though the complete opposite was true.

“I loved it at Sheffield Wednesday… I think it was one of them where I think the fans think I turned them down, but I was ready to sign for them - they never put a bid in.”

He went on to say, “I was pushing, and Megson was pushing, and I heard it was one of the reasons that he got sacked - because he was that adamant…

Ben Marshall wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday.Ben Marshall wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday.
Ben Marshall wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday.
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“When they accepted Leicester’s bid I asked my agent if he couldn’t just call Wednesday and ask them to match it. I think they would’ve accepted £500,000, but Leicester came in with about £1m I think.”

Marshall also recalled later in the podcast how he looked to adapt to Sheffield straight away on his arrival, having a night on the town before his first training session, saying, “I signed on the Thursday, and on the Thursday night me and my mate had a night out in Sheffield… Before I’d even trained.”

Marshall went on to play for the likes of Leicester, Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Millwall and Norwich City before stepping out of the professional ranks in 2019.

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